TalkSPORT bans all mention of Twitter in wake of racist abuse and death threats directed at Stan Collymore

National radio station talkSPORT has banned any mention of Twitter during its
broadcasts after Stan Collymore condemned the social networking site’s
failure to deal with the racist abuse and death threats he has suffered from
other users

Tweet silence: Stan Collymore has attacked the hierarchy at Twitter for not dealing properly with the vile abuse directed at him from other usersPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Footballer turned pundit Collymore has found himself a regular target on Twitter, with the final straw the response to him accusing Liverpool striker Luis Suarez of diving against Aston Villa on Saturday.

The 43-year-old, who regularly reports racism on Twitter to the police, accused the site’s hierarchy of not doing enough to tackle offensive messages.

He was supported on Wednesday by his bosses at talkSPORT, whose chief executive, Scott Taunton, wrote a formal letter of complaint to Twitter.

He said: “We are dismayed at the lack of response and perceived inaction by Twitter. Racist or abusive messages of this nature are illegal and unacceptable.

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“We have more than three million Twitter followers across our accounts but we will not promote these until we are satisfied that Twitter is doing its utmost to prevent abuse of this nature. We have a duty of care to all our staff and presenters and until I am satisfied that Twitter is treating this seriously we will no longer promote Twitter accounts or use tweets on-air.

“It seems inconceivable that a hi-tech company with a market capitalisation of $30 billion (£18bn) appears incapable of preventing racist and abusive tweets being broadcast across its platform.”

Police confirmedon Tuesday night they were investigating a series of offensive messages directed at Collymore, who told BBC Breakfast: “This has been going on for quite some time now.

“Two years ago, two guys – two law students – were arrested and one received 200 hours of community service and the other one 56 days in prison.

“Since then, Twitter has changed its policy so that giving out profile information has to be made via a request made by the police.”

Twitter said in a statement: “Direct, targeted abuse and specific threats of violence are against our rules.

“You can let us know if you see abusive Tweets by using the new ‘Report Tweet’ button or through our online forms.”

Twitter said its Trust and Safety team, which is being increased in size, worked 24 hours a day to respond to reports of abusive tweets.

Its statement added: “We also have a clear process for working with the police and are in ongoing communication with relevant UK police forces to make sure they are aware of our policies.

“Twitter is an open communications platform. Our priority is that users are able to express themselves, within acceptable limits and, of course, within the law.

“We cannot stop people from saying offensive, hurtful things on the internet or on Twitter.

“But we take action when content is reported to us that breaks our rules or is illegal.”